Marking device for recording cards



Aug. 22, 1944. T. MALMER MARKING DEVICE FOR RECORDING CARDS Filed May 28, 1942 INVENTOR Thu/e [Var Ala/men fl wcoa/L Y ,9 AT TO NEYS Patented Aug. 22, 1944 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE $313-$111?32553121133? i Application Mats, 1942, Serial No. 444,913,

,. In Sweden June 5, 1941 W was. (6 1.129-163) 'I'he present invention refers. to amarkingde- .vice for recording cards, which are providedjwith one or more movable markingmembers in the form of runners or the like for the markfngof rows orcolumns comprising date orinsc'ripti'ons known, wherein the marking member is adapted to be displaced in apocket extending. along one edge of the .card,.said pocket consisting ofa protection bar formed as anedgev lining. The adjustment of the marking member would then be effected. with the aid of a tongue arranged. on the runner and projecting fromthe pocket,' by means of which tongue the runneris seized by. the hand at the adjustment'of the same. ,This arrangement involves the drawback that the tongue may become unintentially displaced in the handling of the cards, so that thep'runneris brought out of its initially adjusted position andwillfccnsequently show an erroneous marking The arrangement of the tongue projectingfromj the pocket also ,has the disadvantage that. the portion of the card over which the, tongue shall permit of being displaced cannot be used for text matter or for recording purposes. This drawback is avoided accordingtothe presentjinvention by the feature that the runner is wholly enclosed within the pocket, and arranged to be displaced by meansof a pin or. the like which may be introduced through one ormore recesses in the wall of the pocket and be brought into engagement with apertures, edgerecesses, depressions or the like in the runner, which form attachments, or places of engagement for the point of the pm. In an arrangement of this description, the runner will thus lie protected in its entirety within the pocket in such manner that unintentional displacement of the same is practically excluded in the handling of the cards. At the same time, this arrangement brings about a considerable increase of the space available for text matter or memoranda on the recording card.

The recesses in the pocket are preferably given the form of longitudinally extending slits which are each adapted to uncover two or more apertures in the runner, and the end edges of which form stops for the adjusting member, so that the runner may be adjusted into definite marking positions by moving the pintoward the one or the other end edge of the slit. The arrangement of the designations for the various positions as well as for the marking proper may be effected in different ways. For example, should the front portion of the protection bar be madefrom transparent material, it willbe possible to arrange indications of position along the card edge underneath the protectionbar, and with this arrangement one end of the runner displaceable in the pocket, or a marking line, a colored square or the like on the runner-which, if desired; may also be made from transparent material--may serve as an index for the marking of the position selected.

The. invention will be described more closely hereinafter with reference tothe accompanying drawing, which illustrates various forms of em,- bodiment of the invention. Figure. 1 shows the lower right-hand corner of a recording card pro: vided with a marking device in accordance with the invention, theguide or pocket for the runner being formed here by a protection bar from transparent Imaterial embracing the lower edge of thecard. vFigure 2 is a section on line 2 '2 in Figure 1. Figures 3 fand 4 show the protection bar in a front view and in cross section respectively, ,and Figure 5 shows the runner viewed. in elevation, Figure Sisa section corresponding to Figure 2 oi'a'sornewhat modified form of embodirnent, V

In Figure 1; I designates the recording card proper, which istaken, to be of the so-called Kardex-type, and to be lowered into ahorizontal reading position. At theloweror anterior righthand corner of thec'ard, thereisprovided a series of recording positions 2 along the foreedge of the card, said positions comprising recording data .or ins-cri'ptions'of any kind and being represented by the letters A H in the drawing. The for'e edge' off the recording card is provided in known ma'nn'er with 'a 'protection bar or lin ng 3 consisting o f a stripof, for inst ance, Celluloid or other transparent material bent about the edge o f the.,card; so1 that the inscriptions in the various positions are'visible through the covering portion of the protection bar, which latter is retained at the card in any known manner. Into the pocket formed between the upper side of the edge of the card and the upper portion 4 of the protection bar bent thereover is inserted a strip 5 representing the abovementioned runner intended as a marking member. The edge of the front portion 4 of the protection bar is bent inwardly and forms a lap 6 serving to retain and to guide the runner 5. The latter is displaceable in the longitudinal direction of the pocket at a suitably adapted friction, the runner being then guided by the inwardly bent edge of the front portion 4 of the protection bar. The runner 5 is provided with a series of apertures I extending therethrough, the pitch of said apertures being equal to the distance between the centers of the various recording positions 2. Provided in the upper portion 4 of the protection bar on a level with the series of apertures is a longitudinally extending slit 8, which in the example shown is of such a length that three of the apertures I are accessible at the same time through the slit, the two extreme ones of the three apertures being then located close up to the ends of the slit. The runner may be displaced into different marking positions by means of a pin, pencil or the like, in such manner that the point of the pin or the like is introduced into one of the apertures I accessible through the slit 8, whereupon the runner is dis-v placed by means of the pin so far that the point. p

of the pin hits the end, of the slit. The runner may thus be displaced in this manner each time by a distance corresponding to one or two pitches in the series of apertures, and may thus be caused to cover or uncover a corresponding number of the various positions 2. In the example shown, the runner is in a position such that the two extreme positions to the right are uncovered, whereas the remaining positions are still covered by the runner. The latter may be made from opaque or transparent material, and in the latter case it may consist, for instance, of a thin Celluloid strip or the like. One end of the runner, the righthand end in the example illustrated, serves as a marking index, and to this end it may preferably be conceived as being designated in some special manner, for instance by the same being colored otherwise than the remaining portion of the runner, as indicated at In.

As will appear from the above, the ends of the slit 8 are effective as stops for the point of the operating member 9, whereby the runner when displaced will always be stopped in a position such the same purpose, the recording card may instead be provided with a support in the form of a plate of celluloid or the like which is secured to the front side of the card opposite the slit 8, the slit ll of the card being then omitted. If desired, this support may be formed by the portion of the protection bar bent about the edge of the runner, the protection bar then preferably covering the rear side of the runner in its entirety.

The recording position need not necessarily have the same dimensions mutually but may be of a varying width, for example, the distance between the centers of the positions being thus also changed. In sucha case the pitch of the series of apertures in the runner must also vary in a corresponding manner. Or, it will be possible to provide a plurality of slits in the protection bar,

'said slits being adapted to define displacements in the runner of different magnitudes and lendthat the edge of its right-hand end will lie flush with the dividing-line between two adjacent positions.

The form of embodiment according to Figure 6 difiers from that described above only in that the lap 6 embraces the edge of the runner 5, so that an augmented friction will be obtained at the displacement of the runner.

In ,order to prevent the point of the pin or pencil 9 from scratching or blackening the recording card proper at the displacement of the ing themselves to be used alternatively. If desired, the slit in the protection bar may be replaced, for instance, by a longitudinally extending edge recess in the bar cooperating with a series of suitably made edge recesses in the runner. Other constructions of the stopping device are also conceivable. The marking possibilities may be further increased by the arrangement of a plurality of runners in each guide or pocket, which is then obviously provided with a plurality of consecutively arranged slits or other stopping .devices. Here, the Various runners may be used, for example, to effect marking in 'difi'erent series of recording positions, or, they may be employed to render possible a number of simultaneous markings in one and the same series. A further increase of the number of recording possibilities may be obtained by the use of two or more runners or series of runners displaceable preferably in mutually parallel or concentric guides, said runners being adapted to be adjusted in any one of the manners indicated hereinbefore.

I claim:

In recording structures of the type having a card provided at an edge with ,a series of indicia, a pocket secured to said edge portion of the card and having a transparent side throughwhich the indicia may be viewed, and a slide arranged to reciprocate in said pocket and cooperate with said indicia, the improvement in which the card and transparent side of the pocket are provided with elongated registering slots arranged parallel to said edge of the card at an end of the series of indicia, and the slide is provided with a longitudinal series of equally spaced apertures arranged to register a'few at a time with the slot in the pocket, to permit a pointed instrument to be inserted through one of the apertures and the slots in manipulating the slide relatively to the indicia.

THURE IVAR MALMER. I 

